Apparatus for printing circular base containers



United States Patent [72] Inventors Arthur C. Peck Fairlleld, Connecticut; Roger E. Knapp, Westerly, Rhode Island [21] Appl. No. 683,548 [22] Filed Nov. 16, 1967 [45] Patented Nov. 10, 1970 [73] Assignee Monsanto Company St. Louis, Missouri a corporation of Delaware [54] APPARATUS FOR PRINTING CIRCULAR BASE CONTAINERS I Claim, 4 Drawing Figs.

[52] US. Cl ll/38, 64/30.101/124,101/l26 [51] Int.Cl B411 17/18 [50] Field ofSearch 101/126, 123, 124,115, 114138-40, 407; 279/;269/63, 64;51/216.5, 216.6.227; 118/500; 64/30 [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,575,637 3/1926 Neth 64/30 2,721,516 /1955 Campbell et al 101/38X Primary Examiner-Robert E. Pulfrey Assistant Examiner-Clifford D. Crowder Attorney-Robert J, Doherty, James C. Logomasini and Herbert B, Roberts ABSTRACT: Apparatus for positively aligning articles in a selected reproducible position in a printing operation. The apparatus includes a rotatable housing for turning the article until a pawl within the housing engages a notch in the base of the article to orient the article with respect to the printing apparatus. The indexed article is then raised into printing position whereupon it is positively driven by means of a central shaft connected to the coacting pawl rotating in the opposite direction from the indexing movement.

Patented Nov. 10, 1970' I of 2 Sheet INVENTORS ARTHUR C. PECK Sheet uh F MR w w A h 47 New Patented Nov. 10, 1970 INVENTORS ARTHUR C. PECK ROGER E. KNAPP BY ATTORNEY:

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to methods and apparatus for handling, indexing and forming indicia on articles. In particular it relates to a screen-type printing apparatus and its mode of operation, which apparatus is employed toprint predeter- 'mined surface areas only of such articles.

Presently there is a great need to be able to economically print selected portions of articles only. This need arises, in particular, with the printing of blown plastic bottles or containers wherein there is formed a seam axially along the outside surface thereof.'Printing or decoration of such bottles or containers is presently and commonly accomplished by screen processes and particularly the silk screen process, wherein a silk screen having an indicia therein and an ink supply therebehind is reciprocated across the surface of a rotating bottle so as to impart nonblurred indicia thereto. Such screen printing techniques are commercially available today and of themselves form no part of the present invention. Such processes are adequately described in U.S. Pat. Nos.

3,159,100, 3,276,356 and 3,232,225, which disclosures are hereby incorporated by reference in order to more clearly set the background of the present invention and in particular to the mechanisms by which the bottle may be positioned for printable contact with the screen device and the means by which the screen device is reciprocated across the bottle.

One method by which the bottle may be orientated in regard to a silk screen printing unit so as to avoid printing over the bottle seam is by placing such bottle in a predetermined position by hand in relationship to the printing unit. This is obviously tedious, and occasionally inaccurate due to human error and a generally undesirable procedure, especially when considering ,the high degree of automation available in other phases of the printing and production facilities. This is especially true during long runs of printing the same indicia on the bottles wherein printing setup time and adjustments are of minor significance.

A further instance where it is highly desirable to be able to automatically and faithfully position or orientate a bottle in a predetermined position in relationship to the printing device is when the bottle indicia is applied in two or more colors. In such a procedure it is essential with a bottle which has received a first color imprint thereon after such indicia has dried, to carefully orientate such in preparation for a second pass whereby a second differing color is printed thereon. Naturally, it is important that the second color is in perfect register in regard to the first color indicia thereon. Again, it is common in this additional occasion to utilize a hand positioning technique so as to orientate the bottle prior to receiving the second color thereon. This technique is, as above pointed out, not wholly desirable.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is thus an object of the present invention to overcome the above elicited shortcomings of prior art methods of orientating a container for the receipt of a printed indicia thereon.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide an apparatus by which such bottle orientation may be accomplished automatically in a truely reproducible pattern, which apparatus is of a basically simple nature, easily operatively adjustable and flexible enough to successfully function with a reasonable range of differently sized containers.

It is a still further object of the present invention to provide a method by which articles such as bottles or containers may be exactly and reproducibly orientated for receipt of printed indicia on predetermined areas thereof only, which method is adapted to high speed processing techniques and is nondestructive or otherwise injurious to the articles being printed.

These and other advantages of the present invention are accomplished by the provisions of the novel article indexing nonprinta'ble relationship to a screen printer, rotated in a first.

position so as to orientate such in relationship to the screen printer by means of positively engaging a pawl which projects from theindexing means with a notch provided in a predetermined location in the base of the bottle, whereafter the bottle and the indexing means are moved into printable engagement with the screen printing device wherein the bottle is thereafter rotated in the opposite direction while the screen printing device is reciprocated across the area thereof to be printed.

Various other objects and features or advantages of the present invention over those of the prior art will appear from the consideration of the following drawings and written description.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS screen printing apparatus and in particular the bottle supporting aspects thereof. A screen printing device mounted for reciprocating movement is positioned directly above. The bottle as shown in FIG. I would be spaced therefrom in nonprint ing position'and .in rolling contact therewith during the printing position.

FIG. II is a partial, sectional view showing the indexing means of the present invention and the drive means associated therewith.

FIG. III is a partial, sectional view with portions broken away for clarity showing the base of a bottle having an indexing notch located therein illustrating the orientation thereof in respect to the forward end of the hub of the indexing device and the pawl centrally located therein.

FIG. IV is a partial, perspective view similar to FIG. I" of the drawings wherein the base of the bottle has been positively engaged by the indexing pawl and rotated in an arc representative of that rotation taking place during the printing cycle.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring to the drawings and more particularly to FIG. I thereof, there is shown therein a bottle 10 having a generally circular base portion 12 and an open dispensing nozzle portion 14. The bottle is shown in nonprintable relationship with the silk screen printing unit 13 (shown pictorially) by a general supportmechanism I6, a transportation and secondary supporting mechanism 18 and the indexing means 20. The base of the bottle is further provided with an indexing notch 11 as best shown in FIGS. Ill and IV.

The support mechanism 16 comprises support arms 22 upon which the bottle 10 is initially supported and roughly positioned in regard to the transportation and secondary support mechanism 18 and the index means 20. The supporting arms 22 are mounted for both axial and arcuate adjustment by means of adjustment arms 24 and 26 which are in turn connected to a horizontal bar 28 by means of adjusting devices 30, such as setscrews. In this manner, then, various size and shape bottles may be supported and roughly positioned by the arms 22. The horizontal bars are in turn connected to stationary columns 32 which are in turn fixedly connected to a sup porting base (notshown) of the overall device.

The transportation and secondary support mechanism 18 includes a headed member 34 adapted for receipt by the open nozzle I4 of the. bottle 10. The headed member 34 is in turn supportedby a turret 36 through an intermediate connection means 38.. Turret 36 is normally provided with more than one headed member 34 and is adapted for rotational indexing movement. so as to enable a bottle to be alternately received from a supply source, moved into the position as shown in FIG. I andthereupon, after receipt of printing thereon, be moved to a storage or secondary printing station. To further accomplish this aforementioned purpose the headed member 34, through the intermediate connecting means 38 is normally pressure whereby the vacuum may be actuated at a pickup or supply station so as to temporarily fix the bottle to the headed member 34 thereof, when such is being transported from the pickup or supply station to the position shown in FIG. I. The headed member is generally also mounted for axial reciprocation from an initial position proximate to the indexing turret 36 during the initial pickup and transportation cycle and thereafter to a second position distal from the indexing turret 36 during the holding, positioning and printing cycles. Positive pressure may also be supplied during the printing cycle so as to expand the outside surfaces of the bottle which are to receive the printing indicia in those cases wherein the bottle is of flexible sidewall construction. The indexing turret 36 is further connected by appropriate means to a vertically movable plate 40 or its equivalent and is thereby movable from initial nonprinting position upwardly into printing engagement position with the screen printing means.

The indexing means is in part mounted upon a shaft 44 which is journaled at one point thereof for rotational movement. The journal support 45 is in turn by means of support structure 48 connected to the plate 40 as is the drive means 46 for the indexing means 20. Thus upon the upward movement of the plate 40 from a nonprinting position as shown in FIG. 1 of the drawings to a printing position wherein the bottle is in rolling contact with the screen printing device, the journal support 45, the shaft 44, the indexing means 20, the drive means 46 and the indexing turret 36 will all likewise be upwardly moved.

The opposite end of the shaft 44 distal to its connection with the indexing means 20 is supported by a pillar 50 which is further mounted for vertical reciprocation. A pulley 52 is further attached to the end of the shaft 44, which pulley by means not shown translates the horizontal reciprocating motion of the screen printing unit 13 into rotary motion so as to rotate the shaft 44 as will hereinafter be explained with synchronized movement with the reciprocation of the screen printing unit. In this manner the rotational movement of the bottle caused by the rotation of the shaft 44 during the printing cycle is coordinated with the horizontal or lateral movement of the screen printing unit so that the bottle may arcuately rotate at the same speed as the horizontal movement of the screen printing unit. This causes greater printing fidelity to be imparted to the surface of the bottle and reduces printing blurs which might be caused by a relative speed differential between the surface of the bottle and the surface of the screen printing unit. Printing blurs of this type frequently take place when the bottle is frictionally rollingly contacted by the screen printing unit itself rather than positively driven at the same speed. It should be brought out however that in many instances, frictional rolling contact by the screen itself with the bottle produces satisfactory printing fidelity.

Turning now to H0. ll of the drawings and in particular its relationship to FIG. I of the drawings, the bottle index means 20 is shown in greater detail. The indexing means 20 includes an article holding means or housing 54 including a cup shaped bottle holder element 56 which is open at that end proximate to the positioned bottle base which in turn further includes a peripheral shoulder 58 which is contoured for receipt of the bottle base 12. The bottle holder 56 is in turn connected to a housing shell 60 by means of a fastening device such as the setscrews 61 illustrated. The housing shell 60 is further provided with a roller clutch 62 positioned thereagainst by means of a washer 64 and a thrust bearing 66. The entire article holding means 54 is in turn mounted upon a spindle 68 which is in turn attached to shaft 44. The article holding means 54 by means of the roller clutch 62 is capable of freely rotating about the spindle 68 in one direction only, say counterclockwise for clarity of illustration, and designed to rotate only as a part of the spindle 68 and shaft 44 in the opposite direction e.g. clockwise direction. This is accomplished by known means incorporated as part of the roller clutch 62; specifically the roller clutch 62 includes elements 70 of generally tear-shaped configuration which are positioned within the raceway formed by the housing 71 of the roller clutch and the outside surface of the spindle in such a manner that they do not obstruct counter clockwise rotation of the roller clutch housing in relation to the spindle but will reposition themselves to create a wedging action therebetween upon initiation of movement in the opposite clockwise direction so as to force both the housing and the spindle to rotate as a unit in the clockwise direction.

An article or bottle indexing means 72 is in turn positioned at the forward end of the article holding means 54. The indexing means 72 is further comprised of a hub '74 which is mounted on the forward end of the spindle axially within the cup shaped bottle holder 56. The hub 74 is in turn provided with an axial bore 76 therethrough in which a spring 78 is mounted for constantly urging a pawl 80 outwardly from the confines of the bottle holder 56. The pawl 80 is further pivotably connected to the hub 74 by means of a pawl arm 82. The force of the spring 78 is such that pawl 80 may be easily inwardly seated within a hub seat 79 by the pressure of the bottle base 12 when such is engaged with the peripheral shoulder 58 of the cup shaped bottle holder 56, e.g. by the forward reciprocating motion of the headed member 34 above discussed. In this manner'then the pawl will initially be normally in its seated position while in contact with the base of the bottle until the notch 11 is aligned therewith, at which time, the pawl is forwardly urged into the notch by the spring 78 so as to form a positive connection between the article indexing means 72 and the bottle.

Rotation of the article holding means 54 relative to the article indexing means 72 is accomplished by means ofa rotatable belt 84 which runs in a trackway 86 formed between the washer 64 and the rear shoulder 88 of the housing shell 60. This trackway is further provided with spaced grooves and the belt with projecting tracks for positive engagement therewith and in this way provide positive rotation of the article holding means 54. The positioning of the bottle holder 56 upon the housing 60 may be varied by the incorporation of one or more spacers 90.

The drive means 92 for the belt and consequently the article holding means 54 is also best shown in H6. ll of the drawings. Therein rotational movement is provided to the belt by means of a hub 94 which is in turn connected to a coupling shaft 96 which is held therein by means of key 98. The coupling shaft 96 is in turn connected to a flexible shaft 100 by means of the setscrew 102, which flexible shaft is in turn connected to a source of rotational power supply e.g. a motor (not shown). The hub 94 is further provided with a needle bearing assembly 104 mounted thereon upon which in turn belt 84 is free to rotate. Rotational force is in turn transmitted to the belt 84 by means of spaced fiber washers 106 which are positioned in place by means of a spacer 108 and a pressure plate 110. A spring 112, the tension of which is maintained by means of a jam nut 114, regulates the driving force which is transmitted to the belt 84 by means of the fiber washers 106. The jam nut is in turn held in place by a setscrew 116. ln this manner then, driving force transmitted to the belt may be regulated to a predetermined level wherein resistance imparted thereto by the article holding means 54 Le. the trackway thereof, above such predetermined level will cause the belt to freely slip in the driving means trackway formed by the fiber washers 106 and the needle bearing 104. Thus once such limit of frictional resistance of the article holding means is reached, the driving means through the belt will no longer impart rotational move ment to the article holding means 54 but will rather slip within the trackway of the drive means.

The operation of the device is as follows:

As previously mentioned the bottle 10 having an indexing notch 11 in the base 12 thereof is initially positioned into contact with the peripheral shoulder 58 of the bottle holder 56. At this point, the article holding means 54 and accordingly the bottle holder 56 is rotating quickly in a counterclockwise direction by virtue of the continuous operation of the driving means 92. Bottle holder 56 thereupon imparts counterclockwise rotational movement to the bottle itself and spins the bottle around until the pawl 80 is positively engaged in the notch 11. Generally this takes place within a portion of a single bottle turn although upon occasion the pawl may not engage in a notch on a first pass due to a possible incomplete receipt of the bottle base 12 within the bottle holder 56. Once :the pawl positively and fully engages the notch 11, the bottle is prevented from further counterclockwise rotation and accordingly the friction imparted to shoulder 58 of holder 56 by the bottle at the peripheral portions thereof increases and thus reaches and exceeds the set limit of rotational resistance of the article holding means 54 so as to enable the belt 84 to freely slip upon its driving means 92 and thus temporarily preventing further rotation of the bottle holder 56. At this point in the operation the plate 40 is moved vertically upward to a point at which the surface of the bottle to be printed is in printable contact with the screen printing unit; thereupon the screen printing unit initiates lateral movement which in turn through e.g. the pulley means 52 previously discussed, initiates clockwise rotational movement of the shaft 44 which in turn causes rotation of the hub 74 and consequently of the pawl 80. This rotation causes the bottle to rotate sequentially with the lateral movement of the screen printing unit. This movement as previously pointed out is regulated within limits so as to bring about an equal or closely approximately equal speeds at the surface of the rotating bottle and the printing screen laterally moving there across. Upon the completion of the lateral printing movement, the screen printer temporarily halts as does the rotational movement of the bottle caused thereby. At this time the printed bottle may be withdrawn from the article holder 56 and indexed by means of the turret 36 to a storage or further printing station. Thereafter a second bottle is received, positioned etc. and the cycle is repeated.

In describing the invention, reference has been made to the preferred apparatus and method embodiments. Those skilled in the printing art may well recognize additions, deletions, substitutions or other modification involving the disclosed invention such as the use of an indexing means drive not con nected with the lateral movement of the screen printer. Such modifications would lie within the purview of the invention.

We claim:

1. An apparatus for printing a blow molded article having a dispensing opening, a sidewall and a generally circular base configuration having an indexing notch formed therein which gradually tapers inwardly toward the interior of the article said apparatus comprising:

A. first article rotation means including:

1. an article base receiving means positively rotatable in a first direction;

8. a transportation and secondary support mechanism adapted to reciprocate in a substantially horizontal direction against a portion of said article defining said dispensing opening to force said article base against said base receiving means, said transportation and secondary support mechanism being located prior to reciprocation at a distance from said base receiving means greater than the length of said article;

C. a first article support mechanism located intermediate said transportation and secondary support mechanism and said article base receiving means for supporting and roughly positioning said article between said transportation and secondary support mechanism and said article base receiving means;

D. second article rotation means having an indexing means including: a 1. a pawl adapted to positively engage said indexing notch;

2. means for rotating said pawl in a direction opposite to said first direction;

3. a one way clutch to permit the article base receiving means to rotate in said first direction and to positively couple the article base receiving means with the indexing means after indexing the article to permit the article base receiving means and the indexing means to be simultaneously rotated in said opposite direction by the means for rotating the pawl during printing of the art:-

cle; and E. means for moving said first article support mechanism, said transportation and secondary support mechanism, said first article rotation means, and said indexing means in a substantially vertical direction such that said article moves into printing contact with a screen printing surface. 

